Leslie Nguyen-Okwu

Leslie Nguyen-Okwu is an Austin-based narrative strategist and former journalist with a decade of experience in strategic communications. Her work includes bylines in The New York Times, BBC, The Economist, National Geographic, and Harper’s Bazaar, as well as creative collaborations with Google, Airbnb, PBS, and HTC. Leslie’s career as a foreign correspondent covering forced displacement, statelessness, and contested homelands shapes her storytelling. She attended Stanford University and Harvard University, studying public policy, refugee resettlement, immigrant inclusion, and narrative change for social movements. She is committed to amplifying immigrant, refugee, and diaspora voices, drawing from her own experiences as the daughter of Vietnamese refugees and Nigerian immigrants. In free time, she performs improv and standup comedy, and competes in full marathons and Spartan races.